Ishe Komborera Africa
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National anthem of  Zimbabwe
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| Also known as | Ishe Komborera Zimbabwe |
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| Music | Enoch Sontonga, 1897 |
| Adopted | 1980 |
| Relinquished | 1994 |
"Ishe Komborera Africa" (Shona: God Bless Africa), also called "Ishe Komborera Zimbabwe" (Shona: God Bless Zimbabwe), was Zimbabwe's first national anthem after gaining independence in 1980. It is a translation of 19th-century South African schoolteacher Enoch Sontonga's popular African hymn "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" into Zimbabwe's native Shona and Ndebele languages.
The song was first translated into Shona in the early 20th century and was initially popular with all sections of society in Southern Rhodesia. Following Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, it was polarized as a symbol of the Zimbabwe liberation movement. The anthem was adopted in 1980 following Zimbabwe's independence as a show of solidarity with other African movements in countries under apartheid. It was replaced as the national anthem of Zimbabwe in 1994 by "Simudzai Mureza wedu weZimbabwe" (Shona: Blessed be the land of Zimbabwe) as part of a move to adopt a uniquely Zimbabwean anthem, but remains very popular in the country.
In the early 20th century, "Nkosi Sikielel' iAfrika" was becoming popular with black Africans. In Southern Rhodesia it was originally sung in the original Xhosa language before being translated into Shona which created "Ishe Komborera Africa". The new Shona language hymn was first performed at the start of a meeting of the Southern Rhodesia Native Association and then again four days later at the closure of the first meeting of the Bantu National Congress, which the Southern Rhodesia Native Association later became affiliated to. By the 1948 African General Strike, it had become the main political song amongst black Africans. Despite that connotation, the song was accepted by black and white Rhodesians. In 1951, at a British South African Police athletics competition, "Ishe Komborera Africa" was sung by combined black and white policemen to commemorate the first multi-racial competition in Southern Rhodesia.
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